Undoubtedly by now you have heard of AzureFest, with any luck you have been out to one of the events [if you live in the GTA]. For the rest of you, that haven’t been able to experience the event, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to what AzureFest is and why you might be interested in the event itself.

What is AzureFest?

At it’s core AzureFest is a talk that focuses on a few barriers to Windows Azure Adoption including Pricing, Registration, PlatformConfusion and Coding/Deployment. This is not your Grandma’s Windows Azure Presentation, It includes both a lecture and a hands on component which is rare for a Community Event.

Why Talk Pricing?

Simple, pricing is the first question that I get asked at the end of every presentation that I’ve done to date, so why not talk about it first? Pricing goes hand-in-hand with the Platform, which means not only do you get to understand what the Windows Azure Platform consists of, but you also get an understanding of what it will cost as well. Finally, It would be rather irresponsible not to talk about the costs of Windows Azure when the first Hands-on-Lab is a walkthrough of the registration process.

What Will I Learn?

Besides the Overview of the Platform and the Pricing Strategies, each attendee who participates in the Labs will learn:

Attendees will also learn some of the gotcha’s around the Tool Installation/Configuration Process and some strategies on how to debug your cloud based solutions both on premise [using the Compute Emulator] and “In The Cloud”.

Bonus… We’re giving it away!

In the spirit of growing adoption of the Windows Azure Platform within Canada [or any country for that matter], ObjectSharp is releasing the content as an Open Source Presentation. This means it is FREE for anyone to download, learn and/or deliver.

If you are interested in doing an AzureFest presentation in your area, download the Resources for AzureFest. The resources include: